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saalamAlaikum
This is an excerpt from the book Islam and the World by Sheikh Abul Hassan Ali Nadwi. This is a second passage that pays a glowing tribute to both the Prophet(saw) and his Companions (rad). Many lessons can also be learned as to which type of people are needed to benefit the cause of Islam. Basically, we should look up to the Companions of the Prophet(saw) as role models and try to imbed their characteristics in us instead of other role models we have kept hidden in our hearts who can be likened as Romans and Persians of this time. These role models that we actually look up to are none other than celebrities and famous people.


Personal Sacrifice made by the Arabs in Past for Welfare and Happiness of Mankind

The Prophet (saw) was ordained at a time, when the Romans and the Persians who shared power in the world, had become useless and had neither the moral courage to risk the comforts of their life nor the stamina to face the trials and hardships of the struggle for humanity at large. They could not give up even a small portion of the luxuries with which they had surrounded themselves. Such people were scarce among them who by controlling their physical appetites and instincts, greed and avarice, liberate themselves from the bondage of luxurious living and lead a more purposive life.

For such a cause a different people were chosen by God. The Arabs were chosen to be the companions and followers of the Prophet (saw). These people were filled with spirit of dedication and renunciation and prepared themselves to sacrifice all that they possessed in meeting the great trials that faced them in fulfilling the mission. The artificialities of sophisticated culture and luxurious living could not lure, nor worldly pomp and show, charm them. They were rich because they knew CONTENTMENT; they were wise because they knew the HIGHER values of life.

The Prophet (saw) himself faced, in full measure, trials and hardships, privations and dangers in carrying mission. Worldly success with all its allurements could cast no spell on him nor could any power on earth could make him deviate from his path. The choicest gifts of life like political power and supremacy, wealth and luxury which could tempt the heart of any man were offered to him, while he was still a young man, by the Quraish.
Again when, on the insistence of the Quraish, his own uncle tried to dissuade him from his mission, he said “O My uncle, I swear by God that if the Quraish put the sun in my right hand and moon in my left, I will not give up my mission till it prevails or I perish in my efforts.”